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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Old School Buckets

I remember I had this old Jofa bucket when I was younger. My parents made me wear it when I would rollerblade around the neighbourhood. (yes I hated that helmet and would hide it in a bush before I got to the school yard).

Growing up I can remember watching a lot of hockey with a few players on the ice that still didn’t wear a helmet. I loved that you could see their hair flying all over that place and they just looked so crazy out there compared to players now.

In 1979 the NHL announced that wearing a protective helmet would be mandatory and that any new player coming into the league had to wear a helmet. The last player to play in the NHL without a helmet was Craig MacTavish who retired after the 1997 season. It took 18 years to get all NHL players wearing a bucket. Mac T was pretty amazing for playing in the 90's with no bucket. He would have played against guys with the hardest shots ever, think Al Iafrate and Al MacInnis. He probably begged the Flyers to be traded to the Blues so he wouldn't have to be in front of the net when MacInnis would rip clappers with his wood stick. I still love when players helmets fall off and they keep playing, although players don't have the same heads of hair like the helmetless legends of Bobby Orr and Guy Lafleur.

you didnt even give a shoutout to the cooper tri-coloured oshawa general helmets? common now. And what about a shoutout to Jari Kurri who is the only player who could wear an old jofa with a almost full faced visor and make it look good.

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Dirty Dangle Hockey is Toby and Mark Mead. Showcasing the lighter side of hockey as you need to have a sense of humour growing up a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. You can follow us on Twitter, like Dirty Dangle on FacebookFacebookor shoot us an email any time at dirtydangle@hotmail.ca